The Grace of the Moments
by M. Alicia Garcia
Summary: She can't bear to hurt him, so why does it seem to come so naturally to her... [ NaruSaku ]
1. Default Chapter

**The Grace of the Moments

* * *

**

He stood near the edge of the riverbank thumbing the pebbles he had cupped in his hands as he gazed out into the water. The wind's current was strong; it blasted effortlessly through the trees and rippled over the river's glossy surface. Naruto chucked a pebble onto the water, easily ricocheted it over the surface for several meters, until in finally sunk into its dark depths. He stole a glance toward Sakura as he prepared to launch the next rock. She sat gracefully upon a white boulder, wearing a pale blue summer dress that ran just below her knees. The dress was carefully tucked under to keep the wind from blowing in out of place, but she did not seem the slightest bit concerned with that possibility. She exuded a carefree elegance, something that was becoming more characteristic of her with each passing day. Her body welcomed the windy embrace, smiling lazily and enjoying the way the wind surged over the naked flesh of her limbs, neck, and face. Her hair seemed to dance behind her, daring to defy the natural pull of gravity. Naruto smiled sadly and wondered if Sakura had always been this lovely.

He cast the next stone into the water and watched it fly and skip over the river's surface. Lately there had been a growing silence between them. Sakura and him. They would spend long afternoons and evenings together with no more than a dozen exchanges between them. The words were becoming fewer and the moments of silence grew endless, stretching onward like a sky full of stars.

"Moments like these are bound to fade, aren't they?" Sakura said softly, just audibly over the wind's roar.

"Hm?" Naruto turned away from the riverbank, his eyes brimming with wonder.

"Peace," she answered.

He nodded. The last five years had been like a whirlwind bursting through and out their village. War had invaded their lives with the brevity of a spring, and left it with a blink of an eye, yet they had lost so much. Their childhood had lost much of the brilliance that usually shines with innocence and youth. Friends, comrades, and mentors were forever laid to rest in the depths of the earth.

"Yeah," he answered. "The moments don't last. But it's good to enjoy them while we still have them."

Sakura laughed playfully at his reply. Naruto tilted his head and stared at her with a confused and bemused expression. Lately, he had discovered that Sakura was also becoming prone to reacting in surprising and unpredictable ways. As they grew older, she was becoming more of a mystery to him.

Sakura exhaled deeply as her laugher died down and rested her head back, her lips curled up in a satisfied grin. "I was just thinking," She said, "how funny your words are compared to the Naruto I remember. When did you get so wise? Whatever happened to that oblivious boy?"

Naruto glared at the young woman. "Laugh it up, pinky, but you're going to be in a world of hurt," he threatened.

Sakura's grin grew wider. "You, know. I love to hear you talk," she said.

Naruto felt his body involuntarily stiffen. On most days their conversations dawdled with meaningless bits of information, always planted on the surface of their lives. He knew all the things to say, all the right replies; it was like a script, so perfectly rehearsed that it had become second nature. But on days like these, on days where the words were so much more, Naruto felt so suffocated. The words would not come to him. Only the same old question and he still had no answer.

"Out of all the people in Konoha village," Sakura continued, "Naruto, you're the one that's changed the least."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "The least?"

Sakura nodded. "The least," she confirmed. If anything, Naruto had been certain that he had changed significantly from that obnoxious loud-mouthed twelve year old from what seemed like so long ago.

"I mean, come on. The mention of 'Hokage' never fails to bring a rise out of you, even when you're trying to act like this mature and collected adult. Just look at you. You already look like you could burst."

"Oh please," Naruto said waving his hand dismissively. "We're not kids anymore, ya know."

"Sure we are," Sakura countered. "Yes, we're not the kids we used to be, but we're only seventeen."

"It's hard to think of us as kids after all we've been through," he replied. Sakura shook her head with bemused exasperation. It was how she always reacted whenever she knew she was completely in the right. _Of course, it also means she thinks I'm totally wrong. _

A gleam of mischief sparkled in her eyes. "Ho – ka – ge," she said smirking widely as she accentuated each syllable. Naruto felt his face grow red. _Am I still so transparent?_ He wondered.

Sakura began to climb off the boulder. She held the hem of her dress down with one hand while trying to use the other to guide her down, but it proved to be much more difficult than she'd anticipated.

"Naruto, can you help me down?" she asked as she sat herself down at the very edge of the rock.

Naruto conceded obediently to her request, inwardly laughing at Sakura's sudden girlishness. Jounin exams were already coming up after having been suspended for three years due to war, and as certain as Naruto was that Sakura would pass with little effort, it still surprised him when Sakura asked to be helped with the simplest of things.

She stretched out her arms and wrapped them around Naruto's neck just as he held her waist firmly in his hands. He pressed her body against his and closed his eyes, savoring the sensations that passed though him as her cheek pressed against his own. He did not want this moment to end. Even as he still held her, he was consumed by regret over the brevity of it. The scent of her hair, the texture of her skin, the warmth of her touch; these were things that were already being stored away into memory.

He lowered her until her bare feet were firmly grounded. His hands lamentably released her as they dropped to his sides and he stepped away putting enough space between them to leave her at ease and to satisfy his need for proximity.

Sakura smiled girlishly up at him. Another surprise. _She seems so much softer today_, he thought.

"You're weird," he told her, but she only beamed up at him in response, and mockingly stuck out her tongue.

"I still can't believe you're taller than me," she said as she held up her hand and measured the differences of their heights. "But not by much."

"Another sign that I haven't changed much?" he scoffed. If there was one thing that still made him sore, it was his lack of growth.

"Yes," she answered, dismissing the tone of his voice. Surprising him one last time, she took a step toward him and pressed the palm of her hand against his chest. Naruto instantly felt his blood surge wildly within him like a burst of chakra.

"But mostly it is your heart," she continued. "In everything you do, you are driven so completely by your heart."

_Don't say those things to me_, he begged inwardly.

"And you have touched so many with your heart..."

_Why can't I be free of this?_

"...because its strength knows no bounds."

Sakura dropped her hand away, her fingers trailing gently over the buttons of his white shirt. She walked passed him and continued walking toward Konoha Village. Naruto was keenly aware of her knuckles, as they had brushed like a whisper across his hand. He could still feel the imprint of her hand against his chest and he suddenly felt very cold.

Naruto picked up the slippers that Sakura had left behind and started after her, making little effort to fall into step with her.

"Sakura," he said after a moment. The young woman stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, her eyes locked to his.

"Sasuke," he began, not certain how to form the words. "Sasuke, he...His heart is a lot stronger than it seems. He will come back to us someday."

Naruto extended the slippers out to her. He knew little else to say or do. _Sasuke_, he thought. _She must have been thinking about him all this time. I didn't know._

Sakura took the slippers and stepped into them.

"Sasuke," she said, almost tasting the word in her mouth, the way one does when getting a feel of something foreign. She bit her lower lip and cast her gaze downward, but her expression remained oddly neutral. Naruto could envision the wheels turning in her mind but could not phantom what sort of thoughts were coursing through her head.

Sakura looked up at him once again. "I gave up hope on him a long time ago," she said in a soft but definitive tone.

She took hold of his up turned collar and folded it down into place.

"We should go," she said as she smoothed out the wrinkles. "It's getting dark."

"We're ninjas, ya know," he told her, fighting the temptation to touch her once again.

"Fine," she said, throwing up her hands in exasperation. "But it is getting cold and you weren't even gentleman enough to bring a jacket. You should always carry a jacket since you never know when you will need to offer it to a lady."

Naruto could only chuckle at her circular reasoning.

"You're not as changed as you like to think you are," he said. "There's still a lot of the old Sakura left in you." Although he did not look her in the face as he said it, Naruto could envision the glare that Sakura was emitting in his direction.

The sun was now dying into the horizon but the wind continued to howl, its cries growing louder with the diminishing light. _Must I still long for you?_ He wondered as they walked side by side under the red and purple sky. _Can I stop longing for you? Where are my answers?_


	2. Momentum

**Momentum

* * *

**

**Three Years Ago...**

He stood trembling as the rain beat down upon him. His shirt, soaked and heavy with rain, clung to his torso and his usually spiky hair was beaten down flat by the water. It had even managed to so thoroughly seep into the fibers of his denim jeans that they barely managed to cling onto his hips.

Not five feet away, Sakura stared sullenly at the boy. An umbrella lay near her feet where it had fallen just moments before. Unlike him, she was only damp but the cold had already percolated into her bones. But then, there was also the heaviness that spread from her chest to the rest of her body. The weariness in her eyes matched the lassitude that he exuded.

He gazed down at the umbrella, recalling how it had dropped. The way her hands had gone limp with surprise, how her eyes had widened then settled into a look of pity. And finally that look of pleading, begging for forgiveness; apologetic, torn. Moisture now flooded the corners of his eyes, and he knew that if he didn't do something, he would cry.

"Naruto" Sakura whispered, reaching for him in a feeble attempt to offer him comfort.

"No," he spat out, the tone of his voice affirmed and deliberate. Sakura pulled her hand back, almost in fear. She did not recognize this tone of his.

"No," he repeated as he turned back to face her. "I won't apologize for my feelings."

"Naruto, I didn't ask you to-"

"It's all the same," he cut her off. "You still want him, even now. It makes no difference what he's done and who he hurts, you'll still want him, won't you?" Even as he had uttered the words, Naruto knew that they did not come from anger.

Sakura turned away, mortified.

"It's not fair," she said. "Not you, not me...not him. None of it is fair."

Naruto felt the weight of her statement saturate his body. _I know I'm not being fair_, he thought remorsefully.

That was the funny thing about anger, pain, and the overpowering nature of bitterness; it wasn't about being fair or right, it was about being tactless and self-involved, and even cruel.

"I'm being selfish, aren't I?" he said after a pause. He monitored her for some sort of a reaction, but her back was turned to him and she had barely moved. Perhaps the rain had drowned his words.

"I wanted it to be you," she said.

His eyes widened in surprise. "Saku--"

"I really wanted it to be you," she said, now facing him. "I --It's just...you see, I've come to respect and admire you so much...so it would only be natural if..." She stopped suddenly, realizing just how painful those words were spoken out loud. It wasn't like hearing them resonate in your mind. Out loud, the words took on a whole new feeling.

"If you loved me back," he finished for her. Sakura answered with silence. She could not bring herself to look at him.

"It's easier when the person you care for, cares for you too, isn't it?" he said as a realization finally registered inside him, offering him little comfort. "I think I'm finally starting to understand. You and I. We are the same."

Sakura looked up at him, her pale green eyes gleaming with wonder.

He chuckled solemnly. "We both long for someone we can't have. We wanna be wanted and think that maybe if we could just find it in ourselves to love back the person that is within our reach, then maybe—"

Sakura laughed. It was a throaty ironic laugh, though it did not mask the distress in her heart.

"We are so hopeless, aren't we?" she said, managing to find some humor in their predicament.

"Yeah," Naruto replied as a grin sought refuge on his lips.

Already, he could feel the weight begin to lift from his heart. It impressed him how her mere presence could bring him both distress and comfort. _She will never love me_, he thought inwardly. It was a realization that had arrived much too late for him. He could no longer remember the one finite moment that he had come to love her. His infatuation was easy to pinpoint, but love? That moment was forever lost to time.

Comprehending the hopelessness of his situation, he felt all the more compelled to hold her. Perhaps it was because he felt a moment like this one would never come again; a moment where both their hearts were so completely exposed to one another. _Even though she'll never love me._

"I do have one request," Naruto said in a near whisper. His voice was thick and even.

"Hm?" Sakura's train of thought was still lost in the previous moment. So, when Naruto took both her hands in his, she did not grasp his new momentum, nor did she have enough time to be overcome with bewilderment. Under normal circumstances, she would have pushed him away or hit him, but the moment was so unexpected that Naruto could only figure that perhaps she just didn't see it coming. Regardless he would not be deterred. He imagined that she would most likely body slam him and invoke some serious physical harm afterwards, but for now he was determined to act upon his instincts.

Pulling her close, Naruto leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. He immersed himself in the kissed, riveted by the sensations that pummeled inside him as he brushed his lips to hers. As expected, Sakura did not respond. She had tensed as soon as their lips had made contact, though she had not bothered to pull away. Despite his own misgivings, Naruto pulled Sakura into a tighter embrace. Feeling braver, he added more pressure against her lips, allowing himself to taste her. Sakura began to go limp in his embrace, and to his surprise she began to taste back, her lips moving tentatively with his own.

It was with much hesitation that he finally pulled away. Their eyes met and he blinked, surprised at her inaction. Her cheeks were colored and he knew that his were as well. He had longed to kiss her for some time now, though he had never quite anticipated the warmth that spread inside him.

"This doesn't change anything...you know that, right?" Sakura said, breaking the intensity of the moment. Her face was still reddened from their close encounter.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I know it.

Realizing that they were still locked in an intimate embrace, Sakura moved to pull away.

"I still haven't made my request," Naruto said, making no motions to release her.

"Eh?" She felt her face grow redder the longer he held her.

Leaning into her ear he whispered...

**The Present...**

"What are you thinking?" Sakura asked, intruding into his thoughts. They had finally returned inside the village walls. Low lights illuminated the empty streets and somewhere under the blanket of shadows, crickets chirped and crackled their night song.

"Huh?" Naruto turned to her, his eyes heavy as if startled from a dream. He felt an inkling of dread overcome him as he glimpsed into his future. A man revered by all and held to an esteemed status, but always heavy in heart. _Always longing._ A fabricated future, yes, but it remained no less real than truth to him.

"You had such an odd expression on your face. What where you thinking about just now?"

Naruto smiled as the dread slowly dissipated from his chest. "I was just remembering a promise."

"Oh." Her brows twisted to expose the baffled curiosity that overtook her, but he offered no more explanations. They continued on in silence, their footsteps drowned by the crickets' song, but it was still not sufficient enough to drown out those words whispered long ago…

"_Someday, when this war has ended, give me back this kiss. Promise me this much."_

_Perhaps it'll finally free me from you,_ he thought. _And then, maybe we can both find some peace._

**Author's Note:** Chapter has been minimally revised.


	3. Sakura Full of Grace

**Sakura Full of Grace

* * *

**

_Sasuke._ She used to spend hours thinking about him. Recreating scenarios in her head. In them she had managed to convince Sasuke to stay, and with time she'd melted away his drive for revenge. Sometimes it was Naruto who had brought him back; she imagined them walking into Konoha village side by side, battered and bruised but smiling in their rekindled friendship. When she wasn't reinventing the past, she'd wonder if he had found the power that he'd sought. But her thoughts were always doused with fear whenever she thought of him. It was not a conscious fear, it was background; like a sky, always present, but never acknowledged. And sometimes, when loneliness weighed heavily upon her, she dared to wonder of he ever thought of her.

She'd spent her childhood filled with thoughts of him. She saw only him, wanted only him. But now as she neared adulthood she felt herself saddened by it. She'd once told Naruto that they were still children in many ways. "We're not the kids we used to be, but we're still only seventeen," she recalled telling him. And even as she had spoken those words with a voice full of playfulness she couldn't help but wonder where her childhood had gone. _When did we cross that line?_ She'd wondered as her gaze lingered upon Naruto's solemn face. Even when she'd finally learned of the cruel path he'd been forced to walk, the Naruto that she knew was still very much the child at heart. A heart that knew no limitations, no bounds. She had not lied about that. It is what she cherished and envied most about her friend.

_"You have touched so many with your heart…"_

She could remember a time when Naruto was nothing more than an annoyance. The class idiot who occasionally made a laughing riot of himself; who'd joined in the laughter, oblivious to the fact that he was the one being laughed at. It was meant to be cruel and pointed, but he hadn't noticed. _And I was the same…I was also cruel._ She hated to remember. It wasn't her participation that bothered her so much as the realization that she also did it to be cruel. She had never understood why the boy had been so hated by so many; the silent sneers, and the cold looks. These things had not gone completely unnoticed by her. She used to cast him looks of pity, but never had it in her to reach out to him. Sakura was still too much like the others; she could sympathize, but Naruto still remained an untouchable. He was not the sort you made friends with.

Eventually even her lingering sympathies for him had faded. She'd had no more room for pity and sympathetic glances. The shy and introverted Sakura had faded along with those sentiments. She'd been replaced by a forceful girl; too obsessed with her own ambitions, and thoughts consumed by the Uchiha boy. She gained perspective and lost it all at once.

How do you tell someone that you take it all back? They had developed so dramatically since they'd first crossed paths in the playground. Those children had left them a long time ago. She imagined that their spirits still lingered somewhere in the schoolyard and in the classrooms; their ghostly laughter chiming within the lonesome walls of the school corridors. How do you apologize for being a child and behaving in childish ways? Maybe you don't. Perhaps there are some things you never take back. What use is it to apologize for the person that no longer exists inside you?

"_I really wanted it to be you…"_

She had never told him how his kiss had made her feel. It would have been pointless; hurtful, even. She had already hurt him enough. Nevertheless, there were moments when she'd wanted to tell him; much like that day. She was not blind to his affections. Sakura realized that he had still been in love with her. She could see it in the looks he gave her; the longing, the gentleness, and even the sadness that reflected in his eyes. She knew that look intimately from hours of staring into that gleaming lake. That is how she knew that Naruto had still been in love with her on that day when she met up with him by the lake outside of Konoha Village those many months ago.

"I won't be returning for sometime," he had told her as they'd neared her house that evening.

"What are you talking about?"

"An assignment." He paused as if mentally choked by the words. It was almost laborious for him to continue. "There are still some factions in the east that are resisting peace, and well, several of us are being sent out to accompany a negotiations team."

Sakura nodded slowly, absorbing the meaning behind his words.

"You're not expecting success, are you?"

"Yeah…" He stared up at the starlit sky, his eyes distant and distracted. "Tsunade doesn't think that they will accept our terms for peace. It seems that they grow restless for war. And we are to put a stop to them before it breaks out beyond their factions and—"

"—destroys everything we've struggled for," she finished for him.

"We've already lost so much to get here. If we lose this too, then…"

_It will all have been for nothing._

Death on the battlefield. When they'd first gone into war, they all had a surreal notion of death. In their short lives they had seen enough of it to understand it. But they had never experienced the loss of a friend or a family member. She could still remember the look on the older ninjas faces as they headed off to war; the looks they cast upon the enthused young fighters, inexperience and naïve. At first she thought they were regarding them as weak and incapable, it was only after the first blood that Sakura realized that it was pity and compassion. _They knew what we would lose_.

"Kakashi sensei…" Sakura whispered.

Naruto turned away. "I know it's cruel to them," he began, a nervous flutter in his throat. "But sometimes, I can't bear to hear their names."

He closed his eyes until he had regained himself and said, "I don't know why I'm like this. I would've never thought like this before."

Sakura pressed her palm upon his cheek.

"I know," she said. And she did. Sakura knew him better than most, possibly even better than he knew himself.

He seemed relaxed now. She pulled her hand away and forced a broken smile.

"Even though it's selfish," she began. "I don't want you to go."

She wrapped her arms around him and held him in a firm embrace, her face buried in the warmth of his chest. It seemed like life had finally begun to settle down, and yet here they were again. She couldn't bear to lose another friend, especially not one as dear as him. _It's not like he's marching into death_, she tried to cajole herself. _It's a mission like any other._

"It's okay," he said, his hand stroking her hair. "Team seven is indestructible, 'kay? I'll be back soon and we'll be squabbling in no time. I'll even show you my new sexy no jutsu."

"Stupid," she muttered. Naruto had tried to off set the mood, but it only made her sadder. _I'm going to miss this stupid dolt._

Sakura could not bring herself to pull away. _First we lost Sasuke, and now I might also lose you_. Despite her usually collected disposition, she felt the sudden urge to cry.

Naruto cradled her face with his warm calloused hands and pressed a kiss against her forehead. His lips lingered before finally pulling away from her embrace.

"Why does it always turn out like this?" She asked, her cheeks burning, and consumed with a sudden sense of déjà vu.

"I don't really have to answer that, do I?"

"No."

Hands still cupping her face, he pulled her chin up, bringing her face close to his until she could feel his breath against her own. His eyes had that familiar look again, alarming her instincts to pull away.

"Do you remember that promise, Sakura?"

"No," she lied, eyes turned away, unable to match his gaze. She had hoped that this would never come up; that he would leave it up to her devices, and allow for it to eventually be forgotten. More than anything, she had not wanted to return that kiss.

Sakura realized that she had begun to tremble and feared that he would notice under the scrutiny of his penetrating stare. After a long pause he pulled his hands away and jammed them into his pockets.

"I guess it was too much to ask for," he said.

Sakura did not reply and she would not answer him for a long time.

There had been no official reports on the Containment Mission in over a month. It hadn't taken long before negotiations had broken down, and the fighting had erupted. Once the fighting broke out, it had become a slow strategic showdown between the renegade faction and the Konoha Ambassadorial outpost. Last they heard, direct battle was proving to be unsuccessful in containing the faction, and the squad leader had opted to go into hiding and take down the faction from within.

Surprisingly, Sakura found herself much too busy to stress with worry. Tsunade had her, along with many others, occupied with a slew of A missions in an attempt to rebuild Konoha's image as a strong nation. Not to mention their ongoing medic-nin lessons and the endless mission reports.

"Still no word?" Ino asked as soon as she spotted Sakura walking out of the Hokage's office. Sakura shook her head, too exhausted to greet her friend properly.

Ino reflexively rubbed the scarring beneath her jaw. It was a jagged scar that ran down her neck and snaked across her shoulder. For Sakura, that mark was a constant reminder of the limitations that accompanied her healing abilities. As skilled and as talented as she was, there were still some things she could not undo, _lives she could not bring back…_Even though she had managed to save Ino's life, the guilt of that scar still haunted her. When Sakura could finally offer Ino some hope for a less conspicuous scar, she was surprised that her friend had shirked away from that offer. She supposed Ino had her reasons.

"Hmm. At this point Shikamaru and the others are starting to get worried. I'm getting worried too. I'm just surprised that you don't seem all that affected."

"It's simple," Sakura replied. "He promised me that he would come back."

"Yep, that sounds like something he would say."

Sakura smiled. It was easier to speak lightheartedly about their worries.

"Ayumi would be relieved to hear that. You know how big of a crush she has on him," Sakura said, grinning broadly.

Ino nodded. "Too bad the poor kid doesn't have a chance."

"I don't know," Sakura countered. "Fifteen and cute as a button. I don't see how Naruto could resist."

Ino cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she chided. "But we're gonna need a second opinion on this one."

"What?"

"You forgot one tiny little bitty detail here."

"Oh, not this again." Sakura mentally braced herself.

_If there is one thing Ino does not know how to do, it's when to quit._

"I see the way you look at him." Sakura's eyes widened with surprise. Now this, she was not expecting. Ino usually went off on some exhausted rendition on how much Naruto's heart belonged to Sakura. As guilty as she felt for not returning his affections, it was a tired argument.

"When I see you two together, it's like watching a pair of lovers who are afraid of getting close."

"Is that how we seem like to you?"

"No. It's not just me."

_So, everyone sees us that way…_

So, even their small world insisted on pushing them together. It was more than a little cruel trying to force a lie. Weren't they damaged enough already?

"It's not like I _don't_ care about him," Sakura replied defensively. "I just…"

She had wanted to tell him how warm it had made her feel. The hot rush of blood and the rapid pulsations of her heart beat; she was overwhelmed by it. But how do you say this and then tell him that you cannot return his feelings? Wouldn't that be more hurtful? Her lips had ached when he pulled away, and it shamed her to think how she'd wanted to him to kiss her again.

"_Someday, when this war has ended, give me back this kiss. Promise me this much."_

She had never answered him, but her silence had been as good a promise.

"They're back! Katou and his team are back!" A boy shouted as he ran past her. Sakura looked up toward the large entrance door. A small band of ninjas were visible in the distance.

"Naruto oniichan!" she heard a second voice call out from behind her. Before she could even think to turn around, Konohamaru went dashing past her. Sakura froze where she stood. _Naruto? Is it really…_

She strained her eyes to focus on the ninjas that were making their way into the village. They were barely silhouettes, but she could already recognize the familiarity of their forms. Without realizing it, Sakura began toward them; her steps slow and hesitant. Konohamaru sprang toward one of the ninjas and clung to his torso. It was now that Sakura could clearly see that it was him. She also felt the childish urge to run toward him and envelop him with a tight hug. But she restrained herself, and moved forward with great composure.

Konohamaru smiled as Sakura approached them and coyly scampered away. Naruto grinned, his eyes admiring her graceful form.

"Sakura-chan," he said, reverting to his old nickname for her. "Miss me much?"

Sakura remained silent, her expression unmoved.

"I said I would be back didn't I? Now we can go ahead and squabble all we want."

"Stupid," she finally said and sprung toward him, clinging tightly to him.

He smelled of dirt and sweat and the hands that held her were calloused and clammy, but it only brought her greater comfort. It made him real.

"Why does it feel like we're always moving in circles?" He asked her.

_I've been afraid_, she wanted to say. _All this time, I've been afraid of keeping that promise, because I know…_

They'd been teammates for so many years and friends for about as long. They'd grown up together; seen each other day in and day out throughout their childhood. Argued and laughed together and fought alongside each other. It was safe to say that Sakura knew him about as well as he knew himself.

_I know._

Naruto had not asked her for hope when he instigated that promise. He was not asking that she might someday reconsider her feelings for him.

_If I do what you ask of me…_

He was asking her to put an end it and finally set him free. Free of her, free of his feelings for her. She hadn't even admitted her own feelings to herself yet.

_I'll lose you._

"I won't keep that promise," she told him, her voice chocked. "I won't do it."

Naruto looked down at her in surprise.

_I'm not prepared to do that…I'm not prepared to let you go._

_**Author's Note:** Okay, so I've finally come to the end of this fic. Took me long enough to get this chapter out, right? I wanted this last one to be a bit more introspective on Sakura's part. Not too sure if it worked well with the first two parts. I'm sorry if it got a little too sentimental for some of you out there. I must admit that I was also surprised in the direction I finally took with this story, but I'm satisfied with it. _

_Thanks for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it._


	4. Epilogue and Prologue

**Epilogue and Prologue

* * *

**

_Months Later…_

Jiraiya sighed, noting with heavy heart that the stack of invoices he'd been working on for the last week had only grown higher since he began sorting through it. He had always considered himself a man of the world; nomadic, insightful, just, and a suave womanizer. But to be trapped behind some desk like a bureaucrat, it was simply demoralizing and staid. Nowadays, his greatest of adventures involved embarking on a hunt for the best price on an ergonomic chair and working his way through the proper channels to get it approved by the payroll department.

He grunted in frustration and drummed his fists to the desk, sending invoices flying._ Where did my old life go? Hot springs. Coy women. Hot sake. And the occasional brawl in the name of justice?_

A low chuckle broke him of his selfish moping. Tsunade stood at the door looking as young as ever. The way that she had laughed made him wonder if she could read his thoughts.

"You know, old woman, it is considered polite to knock."

She shrugged, "What's a little impropriety between old friends? Besides you had such a miserable look on your face, it would have been wrong not to intrude."

For the first time, he noticed that Tsunade held two glasses and a half empty bottle of scotch.

"Oh, I see you brought a treat."

"Guilt," she stated. "It's not an easy thing to have to rely on another to help with a job that should be mine alone."

Jiraiya shrugged dismissively. "This country has been through a lot, and rebuilding is not an easy thing to do. Don't be too hard on yourself, we are all struggling to piece back a semblance of the old life."

"Yes, the old life." With a great sigh Tsunade strode across the room and placed the glasses on the desk. Jiraiya looked on thirstily as she poured the scotch. "It's like we're living in a ghost town. We've risen from the ashes, rebuilding upon our past, only it is now colder and paler in color. The brilliance is but a dream. A ghost of what we once were."

"That's morbid, but it rings true," he conceded, making a grab for the drink. Before the glass had even touched his lips, Tsunade had completely downed hers. She plopped herself on the chair across from Jiraiya and leaned backward, eyes closed and heavy with exhaustion.

"You need to get out, Tsunade. Get some fresh air. You haven't left the office in days." Jiraiya rose and walked to the window that overlooked the Sakura trees on the southern end of the park. "Go and admire the Cherry Blossoms. It looks like they're in full bloom."

Tsunade laugh ironically. "No thanks, old man. That just doesn't cut it anymore."

Jiraiya said nothing, understanding her sentiment full well. The war had been gritty and demoralizing, so now that reconstruction was well underway it was harder to take in the beautiful. It was more like trying to adjust to the painful glare of light after emerging from a dark solitary cave.

As unimpressive as the luster of spring had become to him, it startled him to spy Sakura Haruno leaning back against a sakura tree smiling flirtatiously at Naruto Uzumaki who was making a point of leaving as little space between them as he leaned one arm against that same tree. _So, spring has arrived,_ Jiraiya mused.

"At least there are still those that can welcome beauty's splendor," Jiraiya commented. "That is what is so great about youth," he went on. "it has miraculous healing powers that the old are immune to. Why do you suppose that is?"

Tsunade rested the back of her hand on her forehead as she grew disoriented from the effects of the alcohol. "It is because we are so much closer to death," she replied.

"Perhaps," he said distractedly, his eyes still focused outside the window, observing as Naruto pressed his hand against Sakura's cheek, trailing his fingers down her chin. He almost felt perverse watching. A man his age gawking at a pair of love struck teenagers, how dismal. Yet it was nostalgic; to be young and in the throws of burgeoning romance. The elation of it and the desolation of its end, Jiraiya felt comforted by its unending cycle.

"They will be the ones to inherit our legacy," he uttered to himself.

"Uh?" Tsunade was struggling between maintaining coherence and giving in to the serenity of a drunken stupor.

"Naruto and Sakura."

Tsunade sat up in her seat at the mention of those names. "It makes me sad to think it," she said. "Those two are so much like we used to be. The great sanin. You, me, Orochimaru. I don't want the same fate for them."

Jiraiya nodded. "Are you going to tell them the news we received about Sasuke?"

"No," she replied. "Not yet. Such things can wait."

Jiraiya raised a startled brow as Naruto dropped his hands down to Sakura's waist, pulling her close to him. He leaned his head down searching her lips with his own, tentatively and with the expertise of an amateur. It was slow to intensify, but Sakura was invitingly responsive. Her hands were pressed up against his chest, clutching on the smooth fabric of his shirt, egging him on. Naruto shifted his weight and pressed her against the tree, never releasing her from their deepening kiss, and Sakura slid her hands up his chest and around him neck. Neither seemed to take notice of the cherry blossoms that snowed upon them.

"I don't know," he said and cleared his throat. "Those two are pretty strong. I'm sure they will be able to handle it."

"Maybe," Tsunade conceded. "But we have other matters that take precedence at the moment. Reconstruction may seem like exhaustive and tedious work, but it is of great essence. What we are working to reconstruct here is the foundation that will carry them."

"Them?" He inquired.

"Our people and our future leaders," she paused briefly. "Those two have the greatest potential to lead our people."

"Ah. I see now." Jiraiya pulled himself away from the window to face Tsunade who was now standing and facing the opposite window that overlooked Konoha Village.

"The world is changing, Jiraiya," Tsunade spoke contemplatively, "and I have no doubt that those two will have a hand in it."

Beneath the shade of the sakura tree Naruto and Sakura clung to each other, short breathed, and lips swollen, kissing almost desperately. It was strange being like this with one another, intimate, and hot for the need to continue to hold each other. It was strange but unbelievably natural.

"Naruto?" Sakura said when they paused for breath.

"Wha?" He mumbled distantly, still consumed by the dizzying effect of their kiss.

"I love you."

He grinned, regaining his center, and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"I already know that."

"Oh," she replied, at a loss for words.

"Thank you," he said, cupping her chin. "It felt good to hear you say that."

He brushed off some of the cherry blossom petals that had come entangled in her hair and laughed.

"It really felt good to hear you say that. I feel so giddy."

Sakura joined his laughter, "Yeah, me too."

She ruffled some of the cherry blossoms out of his hair and caressed his cheek.

"Wanna kiss some more?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah," he replied. "That would be nice."

_**Author's Note:**_

_I hadn't really planned on writing anymore on this story, but it sort of came to me this morning. For those of you that weren't satisfied with my ending, I hope this finally gives you some closure._

_Reviews are always appreciated but not required._

_So now it is finally…_

_The End._


End file.
